Bills signed by the Governor on December 22, 2017; Effective: In 90 days

Posted By
DiCaudo, Pitchford & Yoder

Governor Kasich recently signed Senate Bill 33 into law. Senate Bill 33
amended certain sections of the Ohio Revised Code, and created one new
section. The bill essentially makes two important changes for criminal
defendants. First, it allows the State to disclose information from the
law enforcement automated data system (LEADS) to defendants in criminal
or traffic cases. Second, it allows judges to keep someone on an intervention
in lieu of conviction program even if that person violates one of the
program’s conditions.

Before this bill, the State could not disclose information contained in
LEADS. This bill allows the State to disclose information from LEADS to
a defendant or her attorney including the defendant’s own criminal
or traffic record according to the rules of discovery in criminal or traffic
cases. The State may not punish or sanction those who provide information
to defendants under this new law.

The intervention in lieu of conviction program was, until this bill, unforgiving
to those who violated its conditions. Judges had no choice but to find
the violator guilty and impose a sentence. Now, it is up to the judge
whether to find a violator guilty or continue her on the intervention
in lieu of conviction program. The bill also provides a middle ground:
the judge can continue a violator on the program, but impose additional
conditions. This allows judges to consider the facts and circumstances
of each case instead of being forced to find every violator guilty.

This bill provides needed changes to the criminal justice system in Ohio.
Many cases involve a defendant’s criminal record, and defendants
have the right to know what the prosecutor is going to bring into court.
Defense attorneys need that information to prepare their clients’
cases. The intervention in lieu of conviction program allows defendants
to avoid prison and a criminal record, but was inflexible to those it
sought to help. People went to prison for minor violations of program
conditions. Now, judges determine case-by-case what to do when program
participants violate the terms of the program.

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Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.